First off, let's start with the basics. What is a moon? It is a satellite of considerable size that orbits around a planet. These moons are much colder and smaller than the planet that they orbit around.

A moon is created after a battle from the occurring debris field. The size of this debris field will increase the chance of a moon forming up until a certain point. The chance of a moon forming depends on a simple formula. For every 100,000 resources in a debris field (metal and crystal), you have a 1% chance of a moon forming, up to a 20% chance which would require at least 2,000,000 resources. Also, the larger the debris field, the higher chance you have of getting a big moon.

Moons can be formed intentionally or unintentionally. If a fleet is crashed and makes debris field of at least 100,000 total resources then a moon can be formed. The chance of a moon is given in the battle report at the very end. If a moon is created, it will be listed under the moon chance on the battle report. If a moon is formed, the debris field will still remain... so always collect the debris field regardless!!

The intentional way of getting a moon is called a moon shot. This is when players trade attacks on their planets, knowing that the fleet will be destroyed and will create a big debris field for a big moon. Usually, enough ships are sent on a suicide mission to create a 20% moon chance giving a moon of at least 8000 km in size. To get a 20% chance, you must send the following number of ships:

Type of Ship

Number Needed for 10% Moon Chance

Number Needed for 20% Moon Chance

S. Cargo

834

1667

L. Cargo

278

567

L. Fighter

834

1667

H. Fighter

334

667

Cruiser

124

247

Battleship

56

112

Colony Ship

112

223

Recycler

209

417

Esp. Probe

3334

6667

Bomber

45

89

Solar Sat.

1334

3334

Destroyer

31

61

Deathstar

--

1

Battlecruiser

48

96

People tend to prefer using either battle ships of light fighters. They both use a nice even 3:1 ratio of metal to crystal. Plus they don't use any deuterium, which would be wasted due to the fact that deuterium is not included in the debris field. Many people tend to use 112 battleships instead of 1,667 light fighters for a few reasons. They don't greatly increase your fleet points, so you're less likely to be noticed, they do less damage to the defense on the planet, and they can be used for regular attacks up until the moon shot more successfully than the fighters. All moon shots should be followed up by enough recyclers to harvest the debris in case of a failed attempt.

A final note for moon shots: be sure that you are not breaking any pushing rules with the moon shots. This can lead to immediate banning.

Moons can have buildings on them, just like regular planets can. Some of the buildings are the same as the planets, while others are for moons only. The main building that you need to build is the lunar base, which makes fields for you to use on your moon. Without it you will not be able to build anything on you moon. The other buildings available on the moons are: robotics factory, shipyard, metal, crystal, and deuterium storages, alliance depot (if it is an ACS universe), sensor phalanx, and jump gate. Any storages for resources on moons are not of any use because you cannot have mines on a moon, so the tanks aren't going to stop any production. You moon has a maximum amount of fields that it can have, shown by the following formula:

(S/1000)^2

where S is still the size of your moon (in km). The jump gate allows you to quickly move your fleet to another one of your moons with a jump gate, but resources cannot be sent through there, so any resources on board will be lost. Information for the sensor phalanx can be found on the sensor phalanx page.

Moons are mostly desired for fleet saving and phalanxing. Any fleet that goes from one moon to another or to a debris field cannot be phalanxed. This is by far the safest and most efficient way to fleet save. If you don't have a moon, the best way to fleet save is the recalled deployment technique. More information on this is on the fleet saving page.

Moons can be destroyed, but only by one type of ship: the deathstar. In order for a moon to be destroyed, the attacking fleet must first make it through all of the ships and defense guarding the moon. Once the death stars and the rest of the fleet reach the moon, the death stars will attempt to destroy the moon. The chance of the death star(s) destroying the moon is found by using the following formula:

{100-sqrt(S)}/sqrt(D)

where S is the size of the moon (in km), sqrt is the square root of the item in parenthesis, and D is the number of death stars sent. A common misconception is that either the moon will be destroyed or the death stars will be. Both of these thing are actually calculated by 2 different formulas. So, even if the moon is destroyed, the death stars can be too. To find the chance of the death stars being destroyed, you use:

sqrt(S)/2

where S is once again the size of the moon (in km). Well that's about everything and anything that I can say about moons. If you have any questions at all, it's recommended that you ask one of your fellow alliance members that have a good amount of experience in the game.